Shakespeare's Double-dealing Comedies Deciphering the "problem Plays"

Are some of Shakespeareâ (TM)s romantic storybook heroines actually emoting sexually obscene (but very funny) lines?{â oeSexual quibbles (puns, play-on words), covertly uttered by precious-and-pure heroines, call for an immediate revision of viewpoint.â } When Fernando (The Tempest) is described as bravely swimming for shore â oein lusty strokeâ , would he be disqualified for doing this in Olympic competition? Before the walls of Harfleur, when Henry V threatens to â oemow like grass your fresh-fair virginsâ and have â oeyour naked infants spitted upon pikesâ , is he (and by inference his creator) barbarous? Or is he doing an hilarious comic imitation of Marloweâ (TM)s Tamburlaine before the walls of Damascus? {â oeThere exists an interesting Marlovian source for the Tamburlaine protagonist himselfâ "Ivan the Terrible. He proposed marriage to Queen Elizabeth, who tactfully turned him down.â } Rule Number 1: If a good writer seems surprisingly inept and has been known to be a wit or humorist, suspect parody or satire. Well, esteemed readers, you decide where to place your bets. On the critics? Or on William Shakespeare?